INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Ask Cavaliers coach Mike Brown what makes the Portland Trail Blazers so good and his long, long list of compliments starts with coach Terry Stotts and goes through LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews all the way to Mo Williams.

It's no wonder, either, since the Trail Blazers come into The Q on Tuesday with a shiny 21-4 record, best in the Western Conference. After an overtime victory at Detroit on Sunday, they're even better on the road -- 11-2 -- than at home.

"Terry is a good coach first of all, but if you look at their roster, they have veteran guys on that team or guys in their prime,'' Brown said after the Cavs practice on Monday at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "They have very few young guys they’re asking to run or lead the ship. They’ve got a lot of veteran players on their team who know how to play the game the right way on the floor. A lot of those guys have had success. Maybe not last year, but LaMarcus has won before, Batum has won before, Matthews has won before there and even in Utah.

"I thought the Lopez kid was the right fit. They needed a big body that doesn’t need to score or anything like that who will do the dirty work because they have enough scorers when you look at the guys they rotate in and out of the game. Then on top of that you’ve got a veteran like Mo Williams who can shoot the 3, who can come off pindowns, who can play pick and roll. He’s fast with the ball, can play in transition, can make plays for himself and his teammates.

"That’s a nice mix of players they have who know how to score the basketball. Because they have size and because in my opinion they added a guy like Lopez, that makes them bigger. Lopez has great feet, so that makes them even better defensively than what they might have been in the past. Then you have Batum and Wes Matthews, too, on the perimeter. Those are two big guards who know how to defend.''

Tristan Thompson will have his hands full with Aldridge, who was named the Western Conference player of the week on Monday, just as Kyrie Irving was named the Eastern Conference player of the week.

"He's playing at an MVP caliber right now,'' Thompson said of Aldridge. "Their coach kind of changed up their offense a little bit to get him more pick-and-pop action. That's where he's doing really well. He can space the floor and shoot it. He's getting rough in the paint. He's dunking on guys and getting to the free-throw line a lot. He got better over the summer. It's another good challenge for me and I'm going to be ready to play against him.''

The Cavs have won five of their last seven games and four straight at home, where they're 7-3.

"Tomorrow's another test for us to see how much we're grown today in practice and over the last seven games,'' Thompson said. "They're a good ball club. It's a good thing we're at home. We have to come out ready to play.''

Irving honored: Irving was named the East player of the week for the second time in his career.

"He deserves it,'' Brown said. "He put up some big numbers for us. He was aggressive, especially at the right times, for us. Obviously, the neat part about it is we won some games. I’ve talked to him about this before. He can get a lot of accolades. He has a chance to be that good. He has special talents. The neat part about it is, can he continue to find ways to attain those accolades while the teams winning? When that happens, to me, it’s very meaningful, because he’s capable of putting up points. He’s capable of putting up assists. He’s capable of putting highlight films together. But now can you continue doing that and propelling your team to wins? That’s the process he’s going through right now. And that’s what has been happening to us as of late. So it’s a well-deserved honor.”

In three games during the week, Irving averaged 29.0 points on .508 (32-63) shooting, including .409 (9-22) from 3-point range and .933 (14-15) from the foul line, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals in 34.3 minutes per game as the Cavs went 2-1. His 29.0 points per game average was the highest among all Eastern Conference guards this week and second-highest among all East players. He posted the highest field-goal percentage among all players in the conference who had at least a 21.0 points per game average (minimum three games). This past week, he was also one of two players in the East to record multiple 30-point games and the only one to record at least 30 points and 10 assists in a single game.

Aldridge, who captured his third Player of the Week award this season and second consecutive, led the Trail Blazers to a 4-0 week behind averages of 25.5 points (eighth in the league), a league-best 14.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 blocks. He led Portland in scoring in each game and posted three point-rebound double-doubles, including a 31-point, 25-rebound effort on Dec. 12, during a 111-104 win over the Houston Rockets.

Cavaliers vs. Trail Blazers

Time: 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Q

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Ohio, WTAM AM/1100

Notable: First meeting of the teams this season. They split two games last season, which each team winning on the road. Cavs have lost the last two games to Blazers in Cleveland, including a wild 118-117 double-overtime loss on Dec. 1, 2012….Cavs have won four straight at home, Blazers have won four straight overall.

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